Osteopathic Treatment
For acute presentations where the patient is unable to move freely due to pain and restricted range of movement. This passive treatment modality is used to encourage the body to “break free” from these limited patterns. Manipulation, articulation and muscle energy techniques of certain joints and soft tissues can alter the way painful stimulus is recognised by the nervous system, therefore enabling the body to move and subsequently heal.
Imagine your path of rehabilitation as a ladder, this section is your first few rungs of that ladder.
Movement Based Therapy
For more chronic presentations where tissue damage is not new but pain/sensitisation and restrictions in movement are still present. The patient’s patterns of life are evaluated here, from previous injuries to environmental factors such as work, sports and hobbies. All these can have a major effect on how your body moves. Prescribing bespoke exercises to “unlock” these habitual patterns is the next few rungs on your ladder of rehabilitation.
These bespoke exercises must then progress to become functional for that particular patient and prepare their body for the stresses of movement again without limitation or fear of pain.
When this stage is reached your are nearing the top of your ladder.
A Little Help From Our Friends…
Sometimes the body needs a little assistance in healing, some tissues that have a poor blood supply or a build up of calcification can delay or prevent this healing process from initiating. Tissues such as muscle and bone have a good blood supply so tend to heal well, whereas tissues such as tendons, ligaments and spinal discs have poor blood supplies so can take much longer to heal.
This is where ad hoc treatment techniques such as Shockwave therapy, Ultrasound and medical dry needling can assist those tissues in their healing.